The Antoniadis Gardens are the oldest gardens in Alexandria in Egypt. Some historians date its establishment back to the Ptolemaic period in Egypt. Rather, it is classified as one of the oldest gardens created by man in the world.
Antoniadis Gardens are located east of Alexandria, adjacent to Nozha Park in Smouha area and next to the Mahmoudia Canal. Its area is about forty-five acres, then it expanded to fifty acres after additions and during the development of the park.
The area in which the “Antoniadis Gardens” were established was revived after the construction of the “Mahmudiyah Canal” during the reign of Muhammad Ali. Its ownership reached Khedive Ismail, and then part of it was sold to one of the major Greek cotton merchants, John Antoniadis, in the 1870s.
Antoniadis began to populate the land and build a palace on it with a distinctive design. He sought after the help of the French engineer Paul Richard to design the palace and gardens in the French style, and he recommended that their ownership be gifted to the Alexandria Municipality after his death.
His son Antonis, to whom the ownership of the gardens passed, executed his will and their ownership was transferred in 1918.
The palace then began to receive major visitors and host important events, and their ownership was transferred between the Alexandria Governorate and the Ministry of Agriculture more than once.
Antoniadis Palace witnessed the conclusion of a treaty in 1936 between the Egyptian and British governments, and a tree was planted at the entrance to the palace to commemorate this occasion.
Also, the palace has witnessed the preparatory meeting for establishing the League of Arab States in 1944 and choosing Egypt as its headquarters was also held in the palace.
The palace also witnessed the first meeting of the Refugee Relief Committee and the first Olympic Committee in Egypt, in addition to hosting kings during their stay in Alexandria, including the kings of Greece, Belgium, France, Italy, Spain and Albania.
Princess Fawzia and her husband, Emperor Muhammad Reza Pahlavi, the former Shah of Iran, also resided in the palace in the first months of marriage.
The garden has a collection of rare roses, more than 38 types of trees, and 27 types of palms, in addition to historical trees.
It also contains statues of the most important international figures, including a statue of Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty, and statues of the travelers Vasco Da Gama, Magellan, Nelson, Christopher Columbus, Amerigo Vespucci, and Admiral Nelson. As well as 17 other statues representing the myths of the Egri Gods
Garden Development Work:
The General Supervisor of Antoniadis Park and its research departments Dr. Ahmed Barakat said that the development work in the park is underway to complete it completely as soon as possible, as 80% of the garden and planting work has been completed, and 70% of the construction has been completed.
Barakat explains that the Antoniadis Gardens complex includes three gardens: It is the Picnic Garden, which includes large cultivated areas, the Antoniadis Garden, which includes the historical palace and the royal greenhouse, and the rose garden, which was developed with a symmetrical geometric design.
The development work stretch to every part of the park, starting with the gardens and trees, while preserving rare and perennial plants, and constructing and renovating service buildings in the Roman architectural style, in addition to renovating eleven marble statues of historical value for travelers and other Romans, and on top of them is a statue of the goddess Venus, the Greek goddess of beauty.
The development work is also based on restoring the historic Antoniadis Palace to its original state using photographic materials that reveal the palace’s aspects, and developing the palace theater so that it will be qualified in the future to host artistic events, in addition to establishing a large conference hall that allows the possibility of transforming Alexandria into a destination for conference tourism in coastal cities.
The park administration has developed a number of recreational activities for children and established various playgrounds, with the aim of attracting visitors and providing an experience that they will like. He called on visitors to preserve the park’s plants and cleanliness so that it remains an outlet for the people of the city and neighboring governorates.
As for the Research Centre; three laboratories are being developed with the latest equipment: a laboratory for plant tissue culture and propagation of rare and endangered plants, a plant analysis laboratory specialized in analyzing plants, soil and fertilizers, and finally a laboratory for physiology and wood tree technology.
These laboratories are used by masters and doctoral students as well as students from the faculties of pharmacy, science and agriculture at the University of Alexandria.
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